Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham have been an exhilarating watch across the early weeks of the Premier League season, but the free-flowing attacking football at Craven Cottage has come at a cost.No team has taken more touches in the attacking penalty area, while only Manchester City have attempted more shots on goal than the London side’s 50. But Fulham’s desire to pin the opposition back under Arbeloa is leaving them exposed to the counter-attack, opening spaces that Chelsea and Crystal Palace have been all too happy to exploit.The first warning sign landed alarmingly early for Arbeloa, watching his team concede just 31 seconds into the season opener.Straight away, Fulham look to build up with their centre-backs wide and both full-backs — Antonee Robinson and Timothy Castagne — pushed right up the pitch. In the sequence below, goalkeeper Bernd Leno moves the ball out wide to Jorge Cuenca in frame two. The defender attempts a long pass, while the midfield three run forward in anticipation of the knockdown.Instead, Chelsea’s Maxence Lacroix heads the ball straight back over them, and Fulham are caught flat-footed; full-backs are out of position and the midfield is easily bypassed as Cole Palmer picks up the ball between the lines and slips it through the gap for Joao Pedro to score.While an extreme example, almost a freak accident from kick-off, it is a goal that helps to display some of the perils of Fulham’s risky build-up shape.Most teams will leave a “rest defence” structure of three defenders and two midfielders (or vice versa) behind the play when they move forward with the ball. Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City are taking new risks this season, with only Elliot Anderson back to protect the three central defenders while his midfield partners look to get on the ball in the attacking third.By contrast, Fulham are pushing both full-backs on, while only the deepest midfielder (and occasionally Alex Iwobi on the left) are nearby to protect the centre-backs if the ball is lost. That is allowing teams to get at Calvin Bassey and Joachim Andersen quickly when they nick the ball, meaning Fulham have to scramble backwards and cover a lot of space when possession is lost.Here is an example of that shape against Crystal Palace. It allows for some neat combinations down either side, with triangles forming between Iwobi, Robinson and Cesar Palacios on the left, as well as Josh King, Castagne and Oscar Bobb on the opposite flank.But when the ball was lost, Shea Charles was often the only midfielder on hand to help sweep up ahead of the centre-backs. Andersen in particular has struggled with such an aggressive role, where recovery pace and stomping channel defending are required to keep the shape.Just five minutes later, Palace are able to break through, as Daichi Kamada scores a goal ruled out for a marginal offside.